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Livelihoods Unit

Livelihood improvement isthe general aim of the work of this unit. In order to contribute to the successful conservation of the Hin Nam No NPA´s ecosystems and the sustainable use of its natural resources additional income for local households has to be generated. Exploring new options and different ways of use of natural resources, especially out of the field of Non Timber Forest Products (NTFPs), might help to overcome the local need for cash income generation by destructive or even illegal activities and provide the basis for household development under the given conditions, opportunities and constraints and possible future struggles like climate change.

So far, according to the villagers´ interests and given possibilities of economic and personal supportseveral options are tried out and developed where suitable. The activities include surveys and feasibility studies, technical training and capacity building, guidance and quality control, market exploration and marketing, among others. Until now, at different villages and with different families the following small scale activities are ongoing at experimental level:

Harvesting and processing of local bamboo, weaving and selling of bamboo baskets (sticky rice baskets): 15 families are joining this activity in Nongping village.

Aquaculture of tilapia and catfish in small rain fed fish-ponds (bomb craters): 6 families at Wang Kon village

Establishment of fish conservation areas in natural streams in order to secure reproduction and higher average catch size: 1 conservation zone in NongSaeng village as a pilot.

Harvesting and processing of palm fruits (maktao) for export: Cha Lar, Tap Lao and Nyawat villages preparing for the next season´s harvest.

Every of the mentioned activities is introduced and practiced under frequent supervision and constant evaluation. The expected benefits on different scales like cash income or improved family nutrition just to mention 2 examples, may vary considerably in amount, additional input to be provided and workload during the year, but each of them has the potential to be developed further and contribute to development. As with every new that comes into people´s life, it needs time to get people used to it and find out on themselves what are the advantages and disadvantages and it will be them who freely will decide if it is worth following up one or another activity or not.None of the mentioned activities is expected to be able to make people´s living on its own, but every single contribution to improvement can potentially increase the effectiveness of the Hin Nam No conservation efforts.